ABOUT

The Getting Played Symposium on Equity in the Entertainment Industry and Awards was found ten years ago by Kathleen Antonia Tarr, a lawyer, educator, and award-winning vocalist with over twenty years of film, television, video game, commercial, and stage credits including Dopamine (Sundance winner), House, MD (Fox), Trauma (NBC), Sim City, Time Crisis 3, and productions with American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Mime Troupe, and more. A former Skadden Fellow ("legal Peace Corps"), Kathleen was inspired to eradicate the inequities she witnessed in the field of entertainment. She produced a feature length documentary Getting Played: Who's Playing You?! – Honorable Mention at the 2010 International Black Women's Film Festival – and in 2014 these Getting Played symposia. Kathleen presented the 2015 General Session for the State Bar of California with her guests Amy Pietz and Edward James Olmos and subsequently authored law review article Bias and the Business of Show: Employment Discrimination in the “Entertainment” Industry.

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The Getting Played symposia endeavor to engage distinguished panels and audiences in conversation about solutions to the current inequities from casting to greenlighting that shape what we see on screens and stages throughout the nation and world. Getting Played symposia also reserve time to honor a select few courageous heroes who advance Industry equity in their everyday lives through pivotal actions that are typically less visible and recognized. This year's 10th Getting Played Symposium will focus the conversation on the role of online spaces in advancing equity in the local theater community, where its founder's entertainment career began. What are your thoughts? As ticket buyers, what are you noticing, including about your own engagement? As performers, how have opportunities changed over the years? As producers, do your choices evolve to meet community demands for more equitable theater? Join the conversation!